Tim Malcolm and Dan Walsh wonder if they can do better. So, we continue “Playing the Rube,” a bi-weekly series with accompanying podcast in which Tim and Dan attempt to steer the Phillies to more victories, starting in 2009, through the deep simulation game OOTP Baseball ’18.

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CHAPTER 17: THE NATTI MEETING

Imagine an otherwise empty conference room in the ground floor of a Center City hotel. Keurig machine. Diet Coke cans. Long tables and stacked chairs. And Tim and Dan planning the long-term mission of the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Natti Meeting is a four-day exercise in going over the past, looking at the present and preparing for the future. We uncover our needs (a big bat, one good arm, a ton of depth) and begin discussing names just as the trade deadline begins creeping up on us.

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